Forestry comments anger Tas leaders
3:04

Tas leaders have clashed in a pre-election debate over claims that too much forest has been 'locked up'.

Sky News

07 Mar 2014

News

State Liberal leader Will Hodgman is well ahead in the preferred premier stakes and is party looks set to gain majority government after next Saturday's poll. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones Source: Mercury

THE number of Labor MPs in the Tasmanian Parliament could be halved in next week's state election, new polling shows.

A ReachTel poll of 2682 Tasmanians, carried out on Thursday night, shows the Will Hodgman-led Liberal Party is set for majority government.

The Labor Party could even be left with fewer seats than former stablemates the Greens, with polling suggesting Labor is likely to pick up just five or six seats while the Greens could secure between four and six.

Any hopes that Labor's stocks might have been boosted by its dramatic dumping of the Greens in January have evaporated.

Polling analyst Kevin Bonham said it was also possible Palmer United Party state leader Kevin Morgan could snatch a seat in Braddon in a three-way race with the Greens, who currently hold a single seat there.

Mr Hodgman has a commanding lead in the preferred premier stakes, varying from 61.1 per cent in Braddon to 43.1 per cent in the Hobart-based electorate.

Overall, his rating is 54.6 per cent, compared with Premier Lara Giddings on 24.7 per cent and Greens leader Nick McKim on 20.7 per cent..

"There is no evidence in this poll to support a hung Parliament," Dr Bonham said.

In an election campaign defined by jobs and the economy, the Liberals have been deemed the best party to deliver.

Asked which party had the best policies to reduce unemployment, 47.6 per cent of those polled said the Liberals, compared with Labor (21.3 per cent) and the Greens (11.9 per cent).

The strong news for the Liberals came on the same day they released another policy aimed at creating jobs.

They announced a $56 million upgrade and development of the Eastcoaster Resort, which they said would create 430 construction and ongoing jobs.

A US-designed championship golf course and clubhouse facilities would be built as the centrepiece of the development.

The ReachTel poll found support for the Liberals' employment policies was strongest in the regional electorates of Braddon, Lyons and Bass.

Tasmanian Industry Group director Daniel Leesong said many of the party's policies had been tailored to economic activity in regional areas.

"Private investment makes up a larger slice of economic activity in regional electorates compared with a seat like Denison that has a higher proportion of government staff," he said.

"Being in those regional communities, the impact a sluggish economy can have is much more obvious."

Dr Bonham's analysis of the polling suggests the Liberals look set to pick up extra seats in Bass, Braddon, Franklin and Lyons and will retain their two seats in Denison.

Overall, the polling suggests the Liberals are set to pick up 47.4 per cent of the first-preference vote, compared with Labor (23.6 per cent), the Greens (18.2 per cent), and PUP (6.7 per cent).

Comments on this story

Brendan Williams of Hobart Posted at 4:41 PM March 09, 2014

Lyndall, you perhaps didn't travel much while you were living here. Abbott and Co make the very sensible point that one could rip, rip, woodchip a fair amount of forest and still have a vast amount left. No need to chop it all down, no need to leave every tree standing either. Modern human common sense, as opposed to the ideologically-based extremism that demands full lock-up. As far as tourists are concerned, we could slash and burn most of the South West and 99.9% of tourists (and residents, for that matter) would be none the wiser. The Liberals have no reason to harm our tourism industry - it wouldn't make economic sense to do so. Whatever shortcomings they have, they can be relied upon to do the economically sensible thing. The Greens, not so much.

Lyndall Abbott-Young of Victoria Posted at 1:47 PM March 09, 2014

Tasmanians are heading for the biggest disaster ever if they vote in Hodgman/Abbott in the coming election. After having lived in Tasmania for the last 12 yrs I know what it is like and I knew first-hand the long fight you had to finally get PEACE in your magnificent forests and now you are about to throw all that away and re-ignite those wars once Hodgman/Abbott get their way and the chainsaws move in........RIP,RIP WOODCHIP turn it into paper......chainsaw eyesore more decay....
Once the tourists stop coming because your forests are gone what will you have?
HODGMAN/ABBOTT = Short term gain for LONG TERM PAIN.

Lynda Morris of Huon Posted at 10:21 AM March 09, 2014

Am I the only reader who doesn't get the point of Comments 32 and 41 from Victoria? Are these commenters pro- or anti-PUP?